Cut Electrical Use, Get ‘Stimulused,’ and Earn LEED Credits
Note: This is the second in a series. To read the first post, see “Getting Buildings and People In Sync.”
The nutshell idea for Programmable Environments (PE) is to use technology to fill new or existing buildings with intelligence. The building becomes a digital network so that permanent fixtures become adaptable. You can make them do exactly what you need them to do at any moment, change them instantly, and gather real time information about how they are used.
And it’s easy. Here’s the story:
In 2007, Herman Miller established a subsidiary called Convia, which serves as a platform for PE. Convia offers a modular electrical distribution system that can be programmed—a fundamental breakthrough in how power is distributed and managed in buildings. The Convia system enables the virtual “rewiring” of a room, floor, or building in just minutes.
With Convia, it’s simple to control energy consumption and ambient effects, including lighting, climate, acoustics, security, and data management. It’s like a digital nervous system that senses human presence, automatically generates appropriate responses, and provides reports that quantify performance, efficiency, and energy consumption and expenditure.
Those reports will show that you save energy and money. Convia controls typically cut electrical usage in half. As a result, Convia can help your project qualify for American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds—in other words, stimulus money. Plus, Convia may contribute up to 23 points toward LEED Certification.
Convia is making buildings smarter all over the country, including the U.S. Green Buildings Council headquarters in Washington, DC—a showcase for resource-efficient, sustainable design.